A Scenic View — Amanohashidate

 April 21, 2023

Today we took a day-trip north to see a famous sandbar on the coast of the Sea of Japan. The sandbar is in Amanohashidate and it is famous because it was designated as one of the three most scenic views in Japan in 1643 by scholar Hayashi Gahō.

This will be our third of the Three Scenic Views, and the first for Libby and Eric. The train ride will be over two hours long, but we hope it will be worth it.

We arrived at Amanohashidate Station to a windy, chilly day. It wasn’t very crowded in this small town. It’s still a little early for tourist season here. Libby and Eric planned to rent bicycles and ride across the sandbar to explore the other end. 

Ken and I thought we would walk across the sandbar and then walk back. We took our time, visiting a temple and reading all the signs along the way. By the time we were halfway across, we realized we would not have time to go all the way across, so we turned around. (We actually calculated the time incorrectly, and we could have walked for another hour, but frankly, I was still worn out from all the walking yesterday, and it was cold, so I was glad to return early.)

While we were walking across the sandbar, Libby and Eric had biked across and taken a chairlift up to a park to see the view from the far side. There is a tradition there that if you bend over and look backwards between your legs, you will return some day.

We met up at the Amanohashidate end and went to a small restaurant for lunch. Then we poked around in some gift shops until it was time to catch the train back - important not to miss it because there are only three a day directly back to Kyoto.

The walk was lovely, and peaceful, and relaxing. The scalloped beach on the ocean side of the sandbar was incredibly scenic. It was a special place.

Getting There

Who thought these metal pipes pretending to be benches were a good idea?

We did not get to ride on the Hello Kitty train

Still some cherry blossoms in Kyoto - seen from the train

In Amanohashidate

Fresh fish at a restaurant or market? It’s sometimes hard to tell.

A temple near the bridge to the sandbar

At the temple, small fans bearing prayers from visitors hang in trees

To reach the beginning of the sandbar we had to cross a small bridge. It was a “rotating bridge.” When a boat needed to pass by, the bridge was rotated, manually. When we got there, the bridge had just been moved to allow a large boat full of coal to get through.

On the Sandbar

 

I really enjoyed walking along the windswept sandbar. It felt timeless.

The sandbar was wider than I expected

The beach was very nice. It looked like people came here in the summer to swim

Apparently there is a certain kind of pine tree that is adapted to salt water and is unique to this sandbar

A hawk?

This stone was used by a legendary swordsman to test the sharpness of his sword before he exacted revenge on his father’s enemies

A shrine along the path across the sandbar

The Voice Monument (explanation below)

This is just so Japanese.

Today’s color is pine green, for the pines of Amanohashidate.